I awoke to a sight that I had hoped to never see again. The old village Viktor and I had appeared in so long ago. This time was different. Viktor was not on my side. I vividly remembered a dream where a voice told me some things.
"This time, it will be different. Aion is no more, and the glass is lost. However, Viktor is a special case. You are here for a reason. Now, the objective is to navigate the Paradox Game. You will have to fix the memory. Each time one of you dies, time will be rewound by my own magic. Every time I rewind time, you will lose some memories at random. They could be useless memories such as an embarrassing moment in the 4th grade, or something as crucial as the rules of the game, or who you even are. It's up to you what you want to do. Viktor will likely be hesitant to work with you again. Good luck."
These rules were… interesting. It's implied that Viktor knew about this beforehand, and also is now hunting me down. There were a lot of important things to not here
First off, Aion and the glass are gone. This is surprising, I thought that Aion was the person behind the Maze of Archon. Now, the only conclusion I can come to is that there is some higher level of being, either magic wise or something else, that controls the maze. That being is what just spoke to me as well.
There's a truth hidden in those rules, if I can figure that out, then victory will be mine.
Looking around, I found that the village had not changed since last time. The same abandoned buildings, the strange well in the middle, and other things. The only thing that was interesting was that Viktor was nowhere to be seen.
I began thinking about the voice. What if it lied to me? Doesn't matter, if it did, all I could do was die. I'm in an unfamiliar environment with no allies. If I don't know the rules, then I'm doomed to suffer, so I will have to accept my fate. Viktor probably wants this anyway.
I began to make my way down the village, taking in everything I had missed originally. There were things that started turning in my head that hadn't happened when Viktor and I were sent here the first time. I'm seeing things that defy the basic laws of physics. There are floating signs, upside down flower pots, and water that wasn't flowing, just stuck.
These things got me thinking. I wonder if this memory is broken per se, but rather stuck. What if the ultimate goal was for Viktor and I to learn enough about magic to somehow fix this village and its flow of time? It's all making sense now, there's a light in the sky that I can only assume is the sun, however I cannot see it. This light has not moved nor changed, this was also the case the first time Viktor and I were here. With my memory being pretty good, it's not perfect. All the memory manipulation that happened in this the first time fucked with me pretty hard. There are things I think of that hurt my brain. However, I remember very vividly the light never moving. I think that means Viktor and I need to get this village back into the flow of time.
This place sure knew how to piss me off.
Having to move this and focus on the flow of time was infuriating, especially since I don't have the watch with me. I knew there was a lot at stake.
Viktor told me about the glass, but not the watch, what else did he keep a secret from me? I'd like to know how the watch interacted with time and magic here to get a better sense of magic for myself, since I had next to no knowledge of it.
All these thoughts rattled through my brain as I continued walking down the village. Occasionally, I'd run my fingers along the edges of the houses. When doing this, flashes of memories I'd either lost to not having an infinite memory capacity, or memories of Viktor and me from the first time would pierce my brain. The wood on the houses also felt real, and hollow.
Hollow wood meant the wood itself was aging. This led me to believe that the village has been aging, but its objects and maybe even people have been stuck.
Everything started making sense, but there was one thing that evaded me. Viktor. Where was he? I know that he's stuck in this village as well, but what is he planning?
All of a sudden, I figured something out.
Viktor is a tactical and manipulative genius. His ability to plan things out is unmatched, and sometimes his foresight makes me think that he can see the future.
What if he planned all of this out? What if there is something he wants beyond my death?
I began to see a potential reality.
I remembered the being's words. It said that it would be doing the rewinding of time. Even with my limited knowledge of magic, I can only assume that only one person can have a limited amount of magic or mana. The thought of the being somehow having an infinite amount of magic crossed my mind, but I dismissed it. Viktor was here through manipulation. With my logic, it makes sense that to use an infinite amount of magic, you'd need an infinite amount of knowledge. In order for Viktor to be alive, he would've had to manipulate his way out of the situation and make a deal.
The deal was me.
Since I chose to save myself and not Viktor, it was him left alone with Aion, presumably to die. But what if Viktor had a different idea? I think Viktor manipulated the being and/or Aion into letting him on one condition. The condition being he brings me back here for one final battle. Viktor would accept his defeat if he lost to me directly, and if he won, he'd have his ultimate revenge and even his life.
Going back to the being's words, I can only assume it is not omniscient, due to Viktor still being alive. This means it doesn't have infinite magic. So, if we are constantly rewinding time, then it makes sense that it'll run out of magic energy or whatever after a while. The only flaw I can see in this is that…
I'd have to die over and over again.
"Jeffrey!"
I jumped and whipped my head around. I'd been so lost in thought that I didn't even notice what was happening on my left. Viktor walked over to me, slowly, a smug grin on his face.
"Greetings, Viktor." I tried greeting, keeping the nervousness out of my voice.
"Jeffrey. Are you ready to pay for your crimes?"
I swallowed the lump forming in my throat. I deserved this, and I knew it was coming. However…
I don't want to die.
"Viktor, can we try talking this out one more time?" Desperation leaked from my voice. The wind whipped up around us, sending sand into the air and my eyes.
Anger flashed in Viktor's eyes, his fists clenched.
"Jeffrey, do you really think our situation can be solved by talking now? After everything I've been through, you can at least grant me this!"
"Viktor… do you think I was conscious when I made my decision?"
Viktor paused, struggling.
"What do you mean?"
"You don't understand what I had to go through. I woke up in that room with no memories. I didn't even know my own name. You looked like a stranger to me. I did what I thought I had to do!"
Tears started forming in my eyes, remembering these memories made me hurt.
Viktor looked torn, then allowed his anger to consume him again.
"That doesn't matter… You still chose to abandon someone for your own sake. You disgust me. I would've hoped that you'd be the one to prove the Arcane Syndicate wrong… Clearly I was mistaken. Humans are rotten to the core, and I'm sure Fredrick realizes that now. I will be the one to fix him. Do not worry about any of this, Jeffrey. You will not remember it."
What the fuck was he talking about? There was so much I wanted to think about. Then Viktor pulled something out of his pocket.
A gun.
I started backing up, waving my hands in front of my face.
"Woah, woah, Viktor, please! We don't have to do this!"
Viktor's eyes flash with doubt, then with resolve.
"You brought this onto yourself, Jeffrey."
And with a loud POW, the gun flew through the air and straight into my skull.
…
I awoke to a sight I had hoped to never see again. The abandoned village from so long ago, but why?
There were pieces of my memory that I could see were fragmented or broken. The last thing I remember was the student council debate. Viktor had just finished giving his incredible speech, now it was my turn, but everything after was blank. My brain felt empty.
I couldn't help but continuously rub my forehead, although I'm not sure as to why. Well, it's time to do some thinking. Clearly this meant that Viktor won and somehow managed to bring me here. This was clearly the Paradox Game, the same one we played all those years ago. But now, Viktor isn't on my side.
I had a strange feeling this wasn't the first time I awoke here.
It was more than likely that Viktor and I would have to try to fix this memory, but I'm not sure how. Nonetheless, there was something I needed to do before I could figure that out. After getting out of the bed I was in, I looked around for a piece of paper and a pencil.
The house was cramped, similar to the one from the second part of the Paradox Game, but looking out the window that was to my right, I saw the same abandoned village as last time. After a few minutes of searching, I found a pencil and a sheet of paper. I decided to write something down for future me.
You are in the Paradox Game against Viktor. You have to fix this village. It is a broken "memory". I am you from the past, every time you die you will get sent here with increasingly less and fewer memories. I hope this helps at least some of them return.
A part of me was mad that I didn't think of this before, since I'm almost 100% certain that I died before. However, it's no matter. This would certainly do.
I walked out the house to see the man himself.
Viktor.
"Jeffrey, what all do you still remember?"
"My latest memory is the student council debate."
Viktor looked sad, but also relieved at the same time.
"I hope for your own sake that you aren't lying."
Before I could question that, Viktor grabbed my wrist and started walking towards a different house.
Once inside, Viktor sat down at a round table, then motioned for me to follow.
"Okay, Jeffrey, they can't hear us in here."
"Who can't?"
"Doesn't matter, I'm going to let you go back to your house and update that note you made with more information."
"How do you-"
"Shut up, let me speak," Viktor said, starting to get mad. "If there's one way we are going to get out of here, is if we can deplete the magic going on here. Since the being only has limited magic, it can only revive you a limited number of times. After a while, it will have to take us out. Once that happens, I'll tell you the final stage of my plan, again. Trust me, this is the only way to win. I have to kill you. But, go run back to yourself like you escaped me. I have to make it think I still hate your guts, which I do, but I need to do this for us to win."
I didn't have time to comprehend what was just said before Viktor shoved me out of the chair and threw me out of the house. I ran back towards the direction he led me from before, then entered the house I was in. Inside it, I scribbled down everything I could.
Viktor will kill you over and over again, it's the only way to leave this place alive. After a while, the 'being' controlling this place will be weakened and let us leave. Trust in Viktor.
The last line was interesting, but I had no choice but to have faith in him now. Just then, the door flew open and I felt a bullet pierce my brain.
…
I awoke yet again to a sight I had hoped to never see again. Although, I got a strange feeling that I had seen this place before. All I can remember was walking out of the graveyard with the watch. Looking at my wrist, I noticed that the watch was gone. I started to panic, until I saw a note on the tablet I had woken up next to.
The note talked about Viktor and how I had done this before, confirming my suspicion earlier about this not being my first time here since the last. So I am currently in the Paradox Game, but I have no memories? Makes sense, I remember Aion mentioning something about. Although I have an oddly specific collection of memories. Why did it leave off where I had the watch, and where did it go? I almost wondered if I had simply given it away to TJ, and it's one of my forgotten memories, but I feel like I would've written that down.
There's also a part of me that wants to forget about the note, and assume it's something that Viktor planted to toy with me, but you never know. I could believe that I foresaw myself dying and losing memories as well.
Something interesting to think about was how different this village sounded than it did originally. When Viktor and I were first at the village, it was dead quiet. Now, I'm hearing things.
They sound like… voices. No clue what they're saying, but it's eerie as hell. Whatever that meant, I'm only positive it can't be something good.
I decided to follow the advice of the note, believing in my own genius over Viktor's.
After exiting the house, I saw Viktor himself. All of a sudden, I felt my body melting. Viktor hadn't moved a muscle.
Slowly turning to my right, I saw a horrifying sight.
The shadowy figure was right beside me.
I tried to scream, but my lungs couldn't produce air. I was slowly becoming a puddle.
"I'm sorry, Jeffrey, but it had to be like this."
This continued for a while. I would constantly wake up, read the note, then walk out and get killed in some horrible fucked up way. After a while, I had so few memories that the note began to stop making sense.
After so much pain, we did it.
I awoke to an unfamiliar sight. Then, all of my memories flooded my brain at once. To my right, was my old friend, Viktor Hale. He, too, looked like he had received an uncommonly high amount of memories all at once. He looked around and our eyes met. Viktor gave me a slight nod as if to say, don't worry. I got this.
I had to trust him, I had no other choice. There was no strategy or tactic I could think of right now that would assist me in getting out of this situation.
In front of us stood what I can only assume to be the being behind this. It had a humanoid figure that was caked in bright light, making it impossible to discern any figures.
"It seems you two have figured out a way to win this without dying. Viktor, you have held up your end of the deal. You brought Jeffrey to us alive. However, neither of you have died and I cannot continue the game. I am willing to let both of you live."
I looked over at Viktor with a mix of confusion and hope on my face. He wore an expression of relief, like all this planning had finally paid off.
"Yeah…" He breathed out, his voice full of awe and exhaustion. "Sorry I had to lie to you. I appreciate the opportunity, and my life."
The being seemed to nod.
"It's okay, Viktor, you've done enough."
He nodded, then collapsed on the ground, unconscious.
A giant flash of light engulfed my vision and suddenly, Viktor and I were back outside the temple.
The only difference was that the temple was…
Gone?
Before I could finish processing what just happened, my body gave way and I fell to the floor.
Everything went black.